Iraqi forces standing firm against terror: PM Abadi

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has vowed the elimination of the Daesh terror group in the near future amid advances on the ground by the army and allied fighters as part of the operation to liberate the city of Mosul.

Abadi made the remarks on Saturday during a visit to Mar Kurkis (St. George) Monastery in northeastern periphery of Mosul.

The Iraqi leader said that he brought “a message to the residents inside Mosul who are hostages in the hands of Daesh – we will liberate you soon.”

Mosul fell to Daesh in 2014, the year the terror group began its campaign of death and destruction in northern and western Iraq.

On October 17, the Iraqi army, volunteer Shia and Sunni fighters as well as Kurdish Peshmerga forces launched a long-awaited offensive to retake Mosul.

Abadi further stressed that the camping’s progress and the advance into Mosul had been faster than expected.

However, he signaled that the advance may be intermittent in the face of resistance by the extremists and their bombings and sniper fire.

“Our heroic forces will not retreat and will not be broken. Maybe in the face of terrorist acts, criminal acts, there will be some delay,” Abadi said.

He further noted that the scale of the destruction caused by Daesh in the country is much more than the one left behind by the Mongolian invasion.

Also on Saturday, the Iraqi premier visited Erbil, where he met with senior officials of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).